1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a snow vehicle provided with a crawler belt for travel on snow.
2. Background of Related Art
A snow vehicle that travels on snow by means of a crawler belt is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. Hei. 1-24673.
This known snow vehicle comprises driving wheels driven for rotation by an engine, a pair of slide rails attached to the rear ends of swing arms, guide wheels supported on the slide rails, and a crawler belt wound around the driving wheels, the pair of slide rails and the guide wheels. The snow vehicle travels on snow by the traction of the crawler belt.
FIG. 15 shows the positional relation, as viewed along the longitudinal axis; of this snow vehicle, between the pair of slide rails and the guide wheels. The pair of slide rails 101 are disposed at a distance from the opposite sides, respectively, of the crawler belt 100, and the guide wheels 102 are disposed on the outer sides of the slide rails 101 with respect to the width of the crawler belt 100 to press the lower surface of the crawler belt 100 on the snow.
In this known snow vehicle provided with the crawler belt, the guide wheels Dress the opposite side portions of the crawler belt onto the snow. However, since the guide wheels are round and are arranged at comparatively large longitudinal intervals, resistance against one side of the crawler belt increases when the snow vehicle is banked relative to the surface of snow for turning. Particularly, a portion of the crawler belt in the inner side of the width with respect to the turning direction of the crawler belt and between the guide wheels is bent and the lower surface of the crawler belt is not pressed against the surface of snow at uniform pressure. The crawler belt is therefore unable to transmit the driving force effectively to the snow.
When this known snow vehicle is banked for turning, the body cover is pressed against the snow to reduce the load on the front ski pressing the front ski against the snows and consequently, the front ski is unable to firmly hold to the snow.
Since the ski of this known snow vehicle is joined to the biasing member by welding or with bolts and nuts, the banking action of the vehicle lags momentarily behind the rider's banking operation for turning due to the resistance of snow. Therefore, the timing for turning is difficult.